Plymouth is a town in southeastern Massachusetts, on Plymouth Bay, about 55 km (34 mi) southeast of Boston. The seat of Plymouth County, it was the site of the first permanent European settlement in New England; it is now a fishing and tourist center with ship-related industries and cranberry-packing houses. Plymouth Rock, a tourist attraction, is on the shore under a granite canopy; recreations of Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower are also there. The pilgrims founded Plymouth on Dec. 21, 1620, establishing a settlement that became the seat of Plymouth Colony in 1633 and a part of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.